This small parrotbill is restricted to Sichuan and Guizhou in south-central China. Its grey bushy crest and white eye-ring stand out; it occurs among bamboo and scrub near mountain summits.
About 12.5 cm long, with a bushy grey crest, dark grey forehead and lores, a white eye-ring, slightly rufescent upperparts, whitish throat, pale grey underparts, and buffy flanks. The sexes are similar.
It inhabits open mountain-top conifer forest with bamboo and scrub at about 2,350–3,437 m. It feeds on insects and seeds, usually foraging in low vegetation in groups of up to ten.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.